Edwin Drood Zombie
by Rosa Bud
Summary: Edwin returns to Cloisterham as a member of the undead.


He looked upon the dawn of the morning. The fog circled a cathedral in a lovingly embrace. He had been in the dens last night, or was it the night before? John Jasper could not remember. He sat up and remembered what was plaguing him. His nephew was gone, Rosa Bud was gone, the joy of singing was gone. Even his journal which had been a source of secrecy and confidence was also gone. He was alone. He laid back on the bed in his room and closed his eyes which felt so heavy and fell into another opium induced sleep.

He woke up from hour to hour. He remembered rising from his bed, calling for a meal from Mrs. Tope, sitting and eating like an automaton but always feeling like he was looking at himself from afar. He moved slowly as if he was in a dream. And he was. At least he hoped he was in this dream.

He heard a noise. Heavy falling footsteps. Which sounded familiar as if he had heard them all his life. He peered out the window. A young man wearing a hat and a coat passed by in the street below him. The slump of the shoulders, the long strides, it was Edwin! Back from the dead? He couldn't be. Without thinking, John Jasper grabbed his coat and hat and sped down the stairs and spilled out into the street like water from a vase. The hat and the coat bobbed in front of him, in slow motion. With the opium it felt like everything was moving underwater slowly.

Unaware of where he was going, unaware of the steps falling in stride behind him, and the next thing he knew, he was in front of the same crypt door which he had laid his nephew to rest over six months ago. The key was still in his pocket. He fumbled to fit it in the lock but the lock was already broken. He opened the door and standing there was his nephew. Alive.

The shock took a full minute to take hold of his brain.

The first words to come out of his mouth were "I saw you dead"

Edwin, looking pale and worn, said "Yes you have seen me dead."

Jasper was at a loss. "I saw you dead," he repeated, "You were not breathing. You were dead."

"When have I ever been breathing? When have I ever been alive?" Edwin twitched under Jasper's gaze.

"Edwin, tell me…please…I didn't mean to kill you. I must be dreaming. I dreamt it so many times. I don't know what I do under the influence" Jasper stammered. Jasper felt as though this was a dangerous moment. He had tried to kill his own flesh and blood and now this was his judgment. He considered the lines from the Bible he sang every week in the cathedral about murder, deceit, disrespecting family and God's will.

Edwin looked straight at him in the face. Jasper couldn't read his expression. Was it a mixture of fear and pleading? Jasper could hardly see straight.

"Jasper," Edwin began, "I am a zombie. This is why you could not kill me. This is why you could not tell if my body was alive or dead."

"But you can't be. I know you. I've known you all your life. You don't look any different."

"My father was a zombie. He was bitten in Egypt along with your father and Rosa's father. He survived the terror of the zombies in the pyramids. He came back changed. He was the only one to come back."

Jasper tried to digest this information but it was almost too much. All he could do was nod along and listen.

"My father came back to us in England. He had made promises. That Rosa would be taken care of and his two friends would be avenged. The only way he could think of doing this would be to make me like him. The bite was terrible. But I was so young. It was my destiny, the lot had fallen to me."

"And why not me?" Jasper asked, "I'm older than you. I could have taken this burden."

"Oh Uncle Jack, that would not have worked. Your father wanted you to sing just like you always had. I was so much younger than you, I had a better chance of surviving and adapting. So I made my plans to go to Egypt, to avenge and put things right. But you tried to kill me. Knowing you wanted me dead, I didn't know where to go or what to do. I came to Grewgious and Bazzard. They helped me to conceal me. I didn't dare go to the ports. I wasn't ready to let go of this place and leave Cloisterham. I had to make sure Rosa was thriving."

"Edwin…." and then a fog glazed over his eyes. Like so many times before, Jasper transformed into a different person controlled by opium and not a sound mind.

At that moment, Helena, Crisparkle and Neville burst through the door. Seeing Helena dressed as Edwin, Jasper felt the old rage come back. Two Edwins! This was a nightmare, this was his dream, one of them needed to die. He failed before, he would not fail again. It had to be like his dream.

Jasper lunged at Helena. She screamed and ran outside. Jasper followed, his arms flailing, running like a drunk man. Helena was swift and like an animal from the jungles of her homeland, she whipped up the cathedral stairs to the tower. Edwin, Crisparkle and Neville ran after them. Jasper immediately throttled Helena as they reached the top. This was like his dream. The first time he should have strangled Edwin.

"Let her go!" screamed Neville as he rushed forward, pushing all his weight on to Jasper. He pushed too far, Jasper grappled at Neville's coat as he pulled both of them down and over the side of the town. Helena screaming, fell back into the Minor Canon's arms as he pulled her to safety. The youth had sacrificed himself to save his sister and the man who was undead remained so.

Months passed. The youth was mourned and the psychologically imbalanced Choirmaster was a subject of conversation. Edwin was reunited with Rosa. Only she, Crisparkle and Helena knew what he really was. Crisparkle who never turned away a poor soul took the care of Edwin on his own. He kept his secret and helped Edwin by moving him to the outskirts of town so he would not be tempted to bite anyone.

Edwin still had the ring from Grewgious in his pocket. He proposed to Rosa, knowing what he was and hoping the decision would be hers to make.

Her eyes met Edwin's for one of the first times in his memory, "Ned, I am what you are."

"You are?"

"I was bitten. By you. So long. It felt like a dream then just as it feels like a dream now. We were so young. It almost felt like being normal. I just reacted to the stare of your uncle's…" It was too hard to say his name, "I am like you."

And the two lived in the outskirts of the town visited by their friends Crisparkle, Grewgious and Helena often and learned to live a peaceful life among the living.


End file.
